The BFI presents three of Mikio Naruse's finest films, now regarded as among
world cinema's greatest achievements.

Naruse's films celebrate, without extravagance , the lives of ordinary people
struggling for something better than the hand fate has dealt them. Performed
with quiet certainty by superb actors, shot and edited with a sure and
relentless hand, they raise the ordinary and even the sordid to a quality near
sublime.

Audie Bock, Artforum

Disc 1: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Onna ga kaidan o agaru toki)

Japan/1960/106 mins/black and white/Japanese language/Ratio: 2.35:1 (16x9)
anamorphic
Naruse's magnificent 1960 melodrama. An elegant essay in black and white
Cinemascope and tinkling cocktail jazz, this tale of a bar hostess' attempt to
escape her lot could give heartbreak lessons to Fassbinder and Sirk.

J Hoberman, The Village Voice

Disc 2: Floating Clouds (Ukigumo)

Japan/1955/118 mins/black and white/Japanese language/Ratio:1.33:1
The elegance and indisputable hard punch of Naruses's storytelling become
immediately clear the moment the lovers kiss and the director cuts, mid-clinch,
to an almost identical shot of them kissing in the past, an edit that suggests
this is a passion that transcends even time and space

Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Disc 3: Late Chrysanthemums (Bangiku)

Japan/1954/97 mins/black and white/Japanese language/ Ratio: 1.33:1
It is something to see Sugimura counting money, and sticking a wad efficiently
into her kimono top. When her heart has been broken one last time by an old
lover asking for money, she burns his photograph in a scene of chilling
finality.

Supplementing the
Masters of Cinema Mikio Naruse Vol. 1 boxset, followed by
Criterion's When a Woman Ascends the
Stairs - we have only the third ever DVD release of Naruse films
for English friendly audiences. And many may consider it to contain his
most important works. I do. Mikio Naruse demands a certain
deserved reverence with film fans. His non-judgmental cinema creates a
kind of pragmatic balance between compassion and
sensitivity... steeped in subtly deep melodrama but frequently with an
overall bleak and pessimistic outlook. It is quite impacting and often
unforgettable.

Although the
3 main features of this boxset are housed in individual (transparent) keep cases
- see images above and below - they are not sold separately at this time and can
only be obtained in BFI's Mikio Naruse Collection Boxset. They are in the
PAL standard, coded for Region
2 and have optional English subtitles. All three discs are dual-layered. I will
discuss the supplements below.

Image:

Quality varies somewhat. Firstly, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is anamorphic but does not appear
to be progressively transferred - although this weakness is hardly
noticeable. What I suspect is that, like MoC, BFI were given NTSC
'master sources' of this film and while Masters of Cinema decided to
release them in that standard - BFI tried to convert them to PAL
(for their
PAL-locked audiences)
but the variance in frame rates caused this minor combing (we see
similar in some silent film transfers, although we now understand that
combing is not necessary if you are given the correct source - and can
convert). The conversion (proof is in the time - 4% faster than the
Criterion) is a far better way to go than transferring an unconverted
source like New Yorker Video in Region 1 frequently does. This produces
a more prominent weakness known as 'ghosting'.
Anyway, on my system I would not have diagnosed the DVD deficiency and
was only able to see it through the magnifying glass of my computer.
Aside from this When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is
not far off the Criterion picture-wise (contrast, detail etc. - a few
more artefacts) where the biggest differences I noted were in the
subtitle translation (see below). I, obviously, can't say with certainty
that it is wrong, but it is different in spots. Personally, I didn't
find it altered the inference of the dialogue. The BFI may show more
damage than the Criterion but it is in no way intrusive enough to
impinge upon your viewing experience. This BFI disc has a 16 minute
Freda Freiberg interview with writer Adrian Martin, another
interview/introduction on the film (7 minutes) by Freiberg, a theatrical
trailer and a separate commentary, with optional English subtitles, for
about the first 15 minutes of the film. She brings up some salient
points but even in this short space does some narrating and explanation
of the storyline.

Floating Clouds has some
damage - mostly in the form of light to heavier
vertical scratches. Overall it has the same level of detail as When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, with
decent contrast, but be prepared that there are times when significant
speckles and scratches quickly drift through the image. It is not
horrible - but it is there. On the extras on this disc Freiberg gives
another short commentary of about 10 minutes of the film and another
intro/interview for 10 minutes and Paul Willemen (Professor of Media,
Film & Journalism - University of Ulster) does a very good 7 minutes on
the film. I think this and
Late Chrysanthemumsmay be my favorite Naruse
films. It has a tendency to be overpowering in its barren subtleties.

Late
Chrysanthemums appears to be from a somewhat
weaker source than the other two. It is remarkably dark - of course, for
all I know it was mean to be this way (most probably not this dark). I
am very happy that BFI didn't try to alter this by manipulating the
brightness level. I noted one instance of chroma but you get used to the
dusty contrast

pretty
quickly and the film is another stunning masterpiece. I hope the
captures below give you a fair idea of what to expect when you purchase
this package (that has our highest recommendation). I should note that I
noticed no minor 'combing' on this or
Floating Clouds
as I did on When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. In the supplements here is
another segmented Freiberg commentary (about 15 minutes worth),
Professor Willemen again for an informative 25 minutes and a
translated interview with Teruo Ishii, a director and writer who worked
with Naruse.

Audio - Pretty decent with some soft hiss but overall dialogue remained consistent and clear.
It is expected that there are some dynamic weakness considering it is
mono and the age/condition of the films but
it is easily acceptable enough for
standard viewing.
Comparatively speaking the audio may be on a par with the video quality
of each film.

All editions have optional subtitles in English - white
font with a black border. Expectantly there are no untoward grammar/spelling
flaws that I noted.

The
extras are a valiant attempt and very much appreciated. Great job by all the
participants. There is also an illustrated 32-page booklet contains extensive
essays by Freda Freiberg, Adrian Martin and Paul Willemen.

Well, this will have definite impact on my own DVD of the Year
2007 voting. I'm just spitballing off the top of my head here but I feel this
may be the best 3-film boxset I have ever seen (cinematically speaking) -
possibly joining the
Criterion Dreyer box (and some others I am not recalling at this time). This
is MUST-OWN folks - I can finally throw out my old VHS' dubs.
Thank you BFI for your commitment to outstanding important masterpieces like
these. Good grief - I feel like putting this in my safe.